$1.6 Million Purse Up For Grabs In Sydney Derby

Three year old racing down under doesn’t get much better, or richer, than it does this Saturday in Victoria.

Here’s a chance for the big three year old turf stayers to stamp their marks in terms of graded earnings, when a field of ten goes postward for the Grade 1 Sydney Derby on Saturday.

An open company field will be going 12 furlongs on the turf, the first time most of these have tried this distance. And to make things really interesting, a purse of $1.6 million is on the line for this group of three year olds. That means the winner will carry home a hefty bag of gold, $960,000 to be exact.

Here’s the field for the Grade 1 Sydney Derby on Saturday.

1 — PROTPUT (IRE)   Owner: wumpscut

Odds: 10/1   Danehill Dancer (IRE) X Kingmambo X High Chaparal (IRE)

This extremely well-bred son of Danehill Dancer threw the best speed figure of his career in his last start, an 11 furlong allowance in Japan on March 19. PROTPUT came on strong late in that race, and this extra furlong here in the Sydney Derby just might help his chances on Saturday. He doesn’t have any stakes experience, but that 98 speed figure in Japan in his last start makes him a legitimate contender here in Victoria, even at odds of 10/1. He’s finished in the money in all four starts in his career, but PROTPUT only has $32,000 in career earnings so far. Hopefully, this Danehill Dancer son can overcome his lack of stakes experience with the apparent raw talent he’s loaded with.

2 — JOE MONSUN (IRE)   Owner: dannejaka3

Odds: 5/1   Montjeu (IRE) X Monsun (GER) X Kris S

Joe Monsun was never raced as a two year old, but oh what a three year old career this one has so far. He’s undefeated in three starts, and he’s got some pretty nice speed figures in all three of his wins. The Sydney Derby will be his first try in stakes company, after he broke his maiden at 9 furlongs with an 89 speed figure and followed that up with allowance wins at 10 and 11 furlongs, where he increased his speed figures each time. Joe Monsun takes a big step up on Saturday against this bunch in the Sydney Derby, but this horse just gets better and better each time he hits the track. Joe Monsun can definitely get the 12 furlongs here, that much is certain, and if he can overcome his lack of stakes company experience, he might be one to keep your eye on Saturday. A value bet at 5/1 here that definitely looks better than his odds.

3 — SATAN’S STORM (IRE)   Owner: texasace

Odds: 5/1      Cape Cross (IRE) X Sadlerfs Wells X Woodman

Satan’s Storm has won six of his eight starts coming in here, and the son of Cape Cross used a huge win in the Grade 3 Summertime Stakes back in October of last season to propel him onto the world stage in the Breeder’s Bowl Juvenile Turf. He didn’t fare so well there, but he has bounced back with vengeance in his three year old campaign, and he’s put up some pretty nice speed figures while doing it. He’s coming off a monster win in the March Madness Stakes at Berkshire, where he absolutely demolished the field in that 11 furlong event. This is a pretty serious racehorse in Satan’s Storm, one that probably should not be taken lightly here in Sydney. If he can repeat his last performance in Berkshire, you might just be looking at your new Sydney Derby champion here. Sometimes, three year olds are funny, and they’ll throw in a bounce race after an effort like Satan’s Storm did in Berkshire in his last outing. But this colt is ultra-consistent, and he’s got over $300,000 in earnings already in his career. Watch this beast closely on Saturday in Victoria. He could take it all.

4 — BLUE RINSE LAGOON (ENG)    Owner: little bay

Odds: 34/1    New Approach (IRE) X Nomadic Way X Gorytus

Blue Rinse Lagoon only has five starts in his career, all on-the-board finishes, and all five starts came since his debut in February of this year. The English-bred son of New Approach had never popped anything higher than an 82 speed figure in his first four starts, before he suddenly woke up in Japan earlier this month and threw a 92 speed figure, where he came from about 10 lengths off the pace with a late rush to grab second place. Maybe getting out of the states was just what Blue Rinse Lagoon needed.  The son of New Approach has been racing just about every two weeks, in light fields mostly. But that 92 speed figure in his last outing was legit, and it puts him right there with a few of these he’ll be running against on Saturday. Can this horse do it on such short rest, with all five of his career starts compressed into such a short period of time? He’s been coming on strong late in his two 10-furlong races, but the odds makers have made him the longest shot in the race at 34/1.

5 — GIMLET BINGE (JAP)    Owner: skunkfeed2

Odds: 5/1     Tanino Gimlet (JAP) X Theatrical (IRE) X Kingmambo

Gimlet Binge only has seven career starts coming in here to the Sydney Derby, but he’s got three wins and three places and over $110,000 in earnings so far. He doesn’t have quite the stakes experience that Incal has, but this son of Tanino Gimlet has some pretty monster speed figures, including a 103 in his last start, a second place finish in the 9.5 furlong Crosstown Track Turf Stakes at Berkshire Race Course, where he lost to Haifisch, a German-bred son of Monsun who went on to win the $2 million Japanese Guineas in his next start. This might be a very interesting horse to watch in this spot here in Sydney on Saturday. Gimlet Binge certainly has the numbers to run with this field, and if he gets anything resembling close to a nice trip here in Victoria, he could be one that might make things interesting late here in the Sydney Derby.

6 — POETA SABINA (IRE)    Owner: manndar

Odds: 10/1     Peintre Celbre (IRE) X Storm Cat X Danzig

Poeta Sabina won the 12 furlong Grade 3 Queen Izzy Cap in New Zealand in his first start as a three year old on New Year’s Day, after a two year old season that saw him win two of his four starts, including a $59,000 allowance event at 8 furlongs. The son of Peintre Celebre has been running speed figures in the mid 80’s generally throughout his eight-race career, one start of which was on the dirt two races ago. Draw a line through that race. This colt was meant to run on the grass, and as soon as his owner put him back on the grass in his next outing, he cruised to an easy three length win in an 11 furlong allowance race in Denmark. This horse has been the distance that he’ll see here in the Sydney Derby, and he did it against stakes company. Poeta Sabina may not have quite the speed figures you’d like to see coming into a Grade 1 race of this magnitude, but he’s got the experience, distance-wise, it takes to contend with this bunch.

7 — DEATH BY LAUGHING (KY)    Owner: lenny11

Odds: 7/2      A.P. Indy X Pivotal (GB) X Sadler’s Wells

Another outstanding son of A.P. Indy that seems destined for greatness is Death By Laughing, who’s done very little wrong in his brief career thus far. Death By Laughing comes from the prestigious lenny11 stable. Death By Laughing would be a perfect 4-4, had it not been for a second place finish in his debut, a maiden special weight event in Spain in his only two year old start. Since that outing, the A.P. Indy son has cruised to three straight wins, and his speed figures just keep getting better and better, which is probably one of the reasons this horse has been installed as one of the morning line co-favorites. His highest speed figure to date came in his last start, where he popped a 103 speed figure in his stakes debut right here in Victoria. He beat a field of 7 pretty nice horses in that Zz Zzar Turf Route Stakes romp at 9.5 furlongs. His dam, the English-bred Crucial Kill, won nearly $500,000 in her career, including a win in the Mother Wendy Stakes. Death By Laughing likes to come from mid pack and you can probably watch his number to start flashing on the tote board late, as he makes his usual late mad dash to the wire against this bunch. If he gets some fast early fractions to run at, Death By Laughing could be extremely dangerous here in the Sydney Derby. Death By Laughing will love the 12 furlongs he’ll see here in Victoria on Saturday.

8 — STRAIGHT MISSILE (NY)    Owner: clooch0918

Odds: 23/1     Golden Missile X Anabaa X Last Tycoon (IRE)

Straight Missile might seem way over his head here in the Sydney Derby at first glance. He’s never been longer than a mile, and that was his debut race in Washington. Since then, Straight Missile has run in nothing but long sprints. He’s a bit more heavily raced than most of these here, with ten career starts, but like Escaping Justice, he’s never been tried at anything close to the 12 furlongs he’ll see here in Victoria. The New York bred has been gaining ground late in all of his last three starts, including a couple of allowance wins (one on the dirt) in Ontario and Northern California. Straight Missile ships in here from New York, but it’s going to be a tough row to hoe when it comes not only to distance but also speed figures. His highest speed figure to date is an 85, and that came in a fourth place finish in a seven furlong allowance race in Missouri two starts ago. This 12 furlongs in Sydney might be a bit much to ask of Straight Missile against Grade 1 company on Saturday, which is probably why he’s 23/1.

9 — ESCAPING JUSTICE (GER)     Owner: blazsadcfo

Odds: 9/1      Monson (GER) X Pleasant Colony X Roberto

Escaping Justice started his career right here in Australia back in June, but it took this son of Monsun four starts before he broke his maiden in Sweden in an 8.5 furlong MSW event. Escaping Justice has had a couple of pretty sharp efforts in Sweden since then, an allowance win at 8.5 furlongs and a second place finish in another allowance, this time at 9 furlongs on January 29. He might be a little rusty, not having raced since late January, but this son of Monsun could be maturing into this 12 furlong distance. This is a huge step up in distance for Escaping Justice here in Victoria on Saturday, but with Roberto back there in his pedigree, he might not have as much trouble getting the mile and a half required in the Sydney Derby as some people may think. Can he overcome the long layoff since his last race? That’s the real question for Escaping Justice here on Saturday, and probably the only reason he’s as high as 9/1 on the morning line here. If Escaping Justice weren’t coming off such a long layoff, the odds makers might think a bit more highly of this son of Monsun.

10 — INCAL (KY)    Owner: super15

Odds: 7/2   Giant’s Causeway (IRE) X Powerscourt (GB) X Miswaki

Incal comes in here on a three-race win streak, the last two of the graded variety. The son of Giant’s Causeway globe-trotted quite a bit early on in his career, breaking his maiden at first asking in Ireland with a 78 speed figure in a 6 furlong win. It’s been all stakes company ever since for Incal, who has nearly $400,000 in career earnings. Incal had a pretty brilliant two year old career, topping off last season with a win in the Nurey’s Academy’s Stakes in Arkansas, where he ran the best speed figure of his career (103) while beating Adjust This. Incal has early speed, as he showed in this last three stakes wins. But he’ll be breaking from the 10 hole here on Saturday, which means he’s going to have to get over to the rail quickly if he’s to take advantage of his early speed. Incal wired the field in that 9.5 furlong stakes in Arkansas on Christmas Day, and he laid close to the leaders in his only two starts as a three year old in the Grade 3 Super Hero Role Playing Stakes and also the Grade 3 Manatee Classic, both in New Zealand. Incal might be a very tough colt to beat in this spot. He’s got the speed to avoid early traffic problems. Incal has finished in the money in 8 of his 9 starts, and he’s looking better and better the longer he goes. Add to all this the fact that Incal gets veteran jockey D. Evans (who’s won nearly 23 percent of his nearly 7,800 career races), and it’s easy to see why Incal has been installed as one of the two morning line favorites in this race at 7/2, along with Death By Laughing.